United States v. Bin Laden

The United States government charged 15 people, including Mohamed Sadeek Odeh (defendants) with crimes arising from a series of August 1998 terrorist bombings on four United States embassies in Africa and attempts to thwart the investigation. In November 1998, at the government’s first meeting with defense counsel, the government advised counsel that the case would likely involve the disclosure of classified information during the litigation and trial. Knowing that a background investigation could take a while, the government suggested that defense counsel promptly initiate steps to obtain security clearance. Thereafter, the government requested entry of a protective order to govern the sharing and disclosure of information in the case. The proposed protective order would prohibit any defendant or his counsel from accessing classified information without security clearance and would require all defense counsel and relevant court personnel to obtain security clearance through the process established by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ maintained eligibility requirements for obtaining security clearance, such as United States citizenship, national loyalty, and trustworthiness. The security-clearance process would be supervised by a court officer, not a member of the prosecution team. Odeh, joined by others, objected to the proposed protective order to the extent that counsel was required to obtain security clearance. Odeh’s counsel also moved to intervene in the matter for the limited purpose of asserting his personal objection on the grounds of his constitutional right to privacy.